Occupational Risk Factors for Seropositive Leptospirosis among Town Service Workers in Northeastern Malaysia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51200/bjms.v16i1.3139Keywords:
leptospirosis, microscopic agglutination test, occupational hazardsAbstract
Leptospirosis is speculated to be one of the most prevalent re-emerging zoonotic diseases to date, and town service workers are continuously exposed to occupational hazards that may increase their risk of infection. This study aimed to determine the occupational risk factors for leptospirosis among town service workers in northeastern Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among town service workers from four municipal councils. All sera samples were tested for the presence of anti-leptospiral antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) followed by a microscopic agglutination test (MAT). We found that 82 serum samples from 321 respondents were positive in the MAT (seroprevalence rate of 25.5%). Multiple logistic regression analysis identified overtime work (adj. OR 2.13; 95% CI 1.19, 3.84), contact with animals while working (adj. OR 2.09; 95% CI 1.06, 4.11), sighting of rats at the worksite (adj. OR 2.17; 95% CI 1.11, 4.25) and living less than 200 m from a river (adj. OR 1.84; 95% CI 1.03, 3.28) as risk factors for leptospiral infection. Whereas age (adj. OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.93, 0.98), wearing boots while working (adj. OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.25, 0.80) and washing hands with soap after work (adj. OR 0.20; 95% CI 0.10, 0.42) were recognised as protective factors. In conclusion, an association was observed between leptospirosis seropositivity among town service workers and the occupational factors. Prevention and control strategies for leptospirosis will require more focus on curbing the possible sources of leptospirosis transmission and maintaining safe work practices in high-risk working environments.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Borneo Journal of Medical Sciences
Copyright transfer and contributions agreement to publish in Borneo Journal of Medical Sciences (BJMS)
Transfer our author right to Borneo Journal of Medical Sciences (BJMS Publishers) along with title, interest in article without any limitations. The Journal shall own the work, including 1) copyright; 2) the right to grant permission to republish the article in whole or in part, with or without fee; 3) the right to produce preprints or reprints and translate into languages other than English for sale or free distribution; and 4) the right for electronic/visual reproduction, electronic storage and to republish the work in a collection of articles in any other mechanical or electronic format or printed publications.
We, the authors certify to participate sufficiently in the intellectual content, conception and design of this work or the analysis and interpretation of the data (when applicable), as well as the writing of the manuscript, to take public responsibility for it and have agreed to have our name listed as a contributor. We believe the manuscript represents valid work. Neither this manuscript nor one with substantially similar content under our authorship has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere, except as described in the covering letter. Any such involvement, publishers of BJMS are not responsible and the authors are held for any untoward practices if any. Any other reproduction of the said article requires the permission from the publisher.
Authors also state that, the work is original and is not infringing with the rights of others and copyrights. Author also further declares that, each co-author have contributed significantly and have accepted to be co-authors for their significant contribution for the work.
We certify that all the data collected during the study is presented in this manuscript and no data from the study has been or will be published separately. We attest that, if requested by the editors, we will provide the data/information or will cooperate fully in obtaining and providing the data/information on which the manuscript is based, for examination by the editors or their assignees.
We give the rights to the corresponding author to make necessary changes as per the request of the journal, do the rest of the correspondence on our behalf and he/she will act as the guarantor for the manuscript on our behalf. All persons who have made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript, but who are not contributors, are named in the Acknowledgment and have given us their written permission to be named. If we do not include an Acknowledgment that means we have not received substantial contributions from non-contributors and no contributor has been omitted.
Total Views: 281
| 
Total Downloads: 295
1.png){kind=logo}
